And Now For Something Completely Different

Spoils of Victory

January is almost here. Woo hoo! It’s resolution season! So, let’s get resolving! (Maybe I will use an exclamation point after every sentence in this post, now that I think about it.) For many of us bookish types, we have resolutions that involve doing some writing in the new year. I’m here to help with a fun little creative writing exercise. I’m going to give you a list of titles. You choose one and write a short synopsis of a YA story that would use that title (an example is included below), sort of in the spirit of NPR’s three-minute fiction contest.

A shortlist will be selected from all of the entries by the Hub bloggers, and readers will vote on the shortlist in January. To the victor go the spoils–and boy, do you really get some spoils. The winner will receive the trophy which is a 100% solid metal monkey paperweight (pictured above). But you don’t get to keep it forever: you’ll have to send it to the winner of the next contest. (If there is a next contest.) But wait, there’s more: you will also receive a genuine prize from YALSA, a 2012 Printz Calendar. Good luck!

Here’s an example of what we are looking for:

Greek Gifts
This is a story about a group of high school girls who decide to create their own sorority. Their gift to the school is a lot of acrimony and hurt feelings because of the selection of who gets in and who gets left out. The sorority gets out of hand; they over the school, and their reign is brutal and tyrannical. One victim of the mean girls hatches a plan to infiltrate the sorority and dismantle it from the inside out.

The titles come from a variety of sources: some are old children’s book titles, some are song titles, some are from Shakespeare, and some are just completely made up. Choose your favorite and start writing!

– Joel Bruns is currently reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle and The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.

The submission period for this contest has closed. Stay tuned to vote for the winner.